Otis Sanctuary - Land Ownership Questions and Answers

Farm Silos - glazed & concrete block

The original land patents for the acreage that became Otis farm was first sold in 1856, fairly late for land grants in the southern part of Michigan where most land was snatched up by 1839.  Ownership was divided into two parcels, the first part of a 280 purchase by John Cameron of Calhoun Co. The second part is more interesting; those 40 acres (NW 1/4 of SE 1/4) went to James Manning, Private in Capt. Clark's Company Georgia Militia Florida. Now how did a Georgia lad get this Michigan property? It was thru the "1850 Act granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States".

Bounty land played a vital role in bringing settlers to the Northwest Territory. Unfortunately, due to scurrilous rumors from early land exploration Michigan was deemed to be swamp land and unsuitable for designation in the bounty land program! Thus Ohio and Indiana benefitted from soldiers getting land in lieu of pay accounting for a head start in development.

Now James Manning assigned his parcel to Sherman C. Prindle. One has to assume two things: he didn't want to resettle in Michigan, and Prindle paid him for the land.

John Calhoun is difficult to trace. He also purchased quite a bit of property in Calhoun Co. in 1839. There are also countless John Calhoun in the Michigan land grant database. Most likely he engaged in land speculation as did so many of those first patentees.

During this time of pandemic the county register of deeds office is either closed or visited with a mask.  So only a bit of research was completed before lockdown.

Betsey Otis purchased the Otis Farm property Jan 10, 1880 from Leo Myers. It was passed to Fred Otis Aug 30, 1886. Why Betsey and not her husband Parsley? And did Fred buy it from her? Closer examination of the actual transaction is needed. And who was Leo Myers! Need to delve further into the land records when pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Baker Sanctuary - Oil in Them Thar Hills?

In the early 1970's oil companies took an interest in the land under the sanctuary. They wanted to start testing. The Michigan Audubon Society President in 1975, Robert Bradburn, favored oil drilling. He saw a tremendous income potential for the Society. Among those much opposed to the drilling was Mabelle Isham - later bequeathed land to expand Baker Sanctuary.

Hubert Zernickow

In 1976 Mobil Oil offered MAS a 2 year lease offering $2,000 in rental fees, $18,000 incentive bonus and 1/8 of oil production revenue. The Society also had a new President - Hubert Zernickow. incidentally he died in Jackson, MI Aug 2019 at age 97.

An amendment to prohibit oil testing was rejected by the board who was concerned it would restrict future drilling requests in other sanctuaries. The proposal was submitted to the membership. How did they vote?

By Nov 12, 1976 Mobil Oil gave up. They said they "lost interest" in the plans to drill at Baker.